I am that person too.
I asked myself the question many times: "What's this person going to say that could help me?"
In the past 9 months, I have read blogs, bought books, spoken with friends, had conversations with my parents, my in-laws, relatives, watched videos.
You name it-Ive looked into it.
All of these hints I will mention are simply a culmination of things I tried on our "potty training adventure" yesterday. Some may be better if done a different way, or even not at all.
My beauty, Noel, is turning 3 years old today! I can't believe how fast these 3 years have gone.
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DISCLAIMER:
You have to decide what's right for YOUR CHILD only.
This was a long process of preparation for me, and I know some people say "potty training can happen in 1 day." All I can say is that, for Noel, that day took 9 months of "preparation days"._____________________________________________________________
As I am sure you have noticed, parenthood brings with it a lot of topics that many have their own opinion about. Before a baby is even born, you've got women bashing others who choose epidurals vs. natural birth.
Breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding
TV vs. No TV........How much is too much?
Rear facing vs. Forward facing
Back sleeping vs. stomach sleeping
Pacifiers vs sucking thumbs
Organic food vs. Inorganic
Public School vs. Private School vs. Homeschool
seriously people, I could keep going
Preparation began about 9 months ago and I was about 7 months pregnant. Noel was about 2 yrs and 3 months old when we started. I said that Noel would get trained, and then I'd have just one in diapers and everything would be fine. Afterall, who likes sitting on their own crap {can I say that?}, and peeing on themselves.
Our first step was to get her a little potty of her own. We chose a pink Disney princess potty and she loved it. I was hopeful she would go since she loved to sit on it and flush the handle to hear it chime. Needless to say, sitting was about all she did. She had zero interest in "going" on the potty, and wouldn't get near a real potty. (regular adult toilet)
Ever hear the saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."??? That was this kind of situation.
A few days of her getting used to sitting on the pink potty, I attempted trying panties. After a few hours of accidents and her not caring at all, I quickly gave up. My giving up was reinforced later that night when she woke up several times with tears and nightmares, yelling "NO potty....no potty!". I felt huge mommy guilt, and decided we would wait until our second baby was born in a couple of months.
about 6 months ago
I decided to buy a few potty books and a potty doll...or actually a monkey.The monkey was battery operated and had a timer that would sound off by saying "I need to use the potty!". The child is supposed to handle and take the monkey to the potty he comes with and it continues to go through a bunch of sayings congratulating the monkey for using the potty and so forth. This did not work. Noel was terrified of the flush sound the potty made and she just wasn't into it. Some people advise getting a doll that actually wets itself...to me, the whole doll experience just wasn't as helpful as the books. We read books every day.
Luckily, the monkey doll did come with a book. "Monkey see, monkey do. Monkey pee, monkey poo!". That book and another about big girls using the potty were added to our nighttime reading pile for another few months. I wanted to get it in her head as gently as possible to avoid the nightmare events again. Weeks continued of us reading these books and me having her sit on her pink potty before bath time.
about 3 months ago
Noel was starting to tell me when she had a pee or a poop in her diaper. We would have a little talk about going potty on the potty and she knew it was something people did, but not something she was going to do. She was adamant and wouldn't get near a potty if I tried.Another month went by,and she started to tell me BEFORE she had to pee or poop. When she started telling me this, I would immediately ask, "would you like to sit on your potty?" Time after time, the answer was a firm "no". I didn't push it.
I could tell we were getting close!
Last month
I came to the realization that if I get her trained on this little pink potty, then I have to worry about getting her used to a normal one later. Why cause more work for myself?Then and there, I ordered this
We left for our Texas trip and I had 2 goals while I was there:
1) To keep talking about going on the potty
2) To end Noel's habit of going to bed with a sippy cup of water.
I did both.
When we returned home, I kept not giving Noel a sippy of water in her bed. She would get a sip after brushing her teeth, but I really tried to minimize the amount she drank for about the last hour of every night.
That brings us to Monday of this week.
4 days ago
I introduced the dora seat. She loved the seat, but putting her on it was tricky. She was still terrified of an adult potty, and didn't want to touch it.At shower time that night, before she got in, I attempted to sit her on it. There was a little resistance, but she finally at least sat on it for about 2 minutes. I kept encouraging her to go pee-pee in the potty, but she wouldn't.
Tuesday night...did the same thing
Wednesday night...did it again.
Yesterday
..........potty training day! I just woke up, realized we didn't have anything planned, and decided NOT to do the diapers anymore. This was going to be it. Her third birthday was the next day.Instead of just doing the potty before showers at night, I put her on the potty in the morning. I explained we were wearing panties all day, and that using the potty was going to be fun. She would get treats, and mommy would even dance around the house if she wanted me too. She asked me to dance like a chicken, and I said I would.
Within a few minutes, I heard a little trickling into the toilet.
She put her hands over her mouth and whispered "I did it" with a worried look on her face.
She got up, not knowing what just happened.
I explained the process of toilet paper and flushing and then we washed hands and had a party!
The potty party process was this:
mommy going crazy and dancing like a chicken
shouting and jumping saying "Noel went to the potty!"
Telling Noel I was so proud of her and giving her hugs
Calling grandma and da-da who would then also say how proud they were of Noel (HAVE A SUPPORT TEAM)
A few mini m&m's or a jelly bean as a reward
Through the day we did a lot of quality playing...she loved dress up time
and I was sure to give her her favorite drink (orange juice) and a lot of water. She also ate pretzel sticks to encourage her thirst a little bit.I kept her in a dress because it is easier that way.
Asked her if she needed to go potty often and put her on every 30 minutes no matter what to try and go. She went every time (even the times she had told me she didn't need to).
I made sure to put her on the potty before nap time...no accident!
Put her on the potty after nap time and so on.
I made sure to put her on the potty before nap time...no accident!
Put her on the potty after nap time and so on.
Panties 100%. No use in diapers/pull ups some of the time. During a nap, she has a waterproof mattress pad and I also laid down an absorbent pad (like a puppy pad) underneath her sheet so she couldn't see it. {Thankfully I had a stack left over from when I had Hope at the hospital....lol}
Use these pads also when they are wanting to watch a movie/cartoon if you want to.
Having the team of a couple of people you can call when they go is great. For them to know others are proud is a real encouragement.
Keep giving the attention, hugs and encouragement. They respond to this.
Put diapers away! When Noel saw her diapers in her room, she asked to wear one instead of the panties. I said no, and had to keep them where they wouldn't be a distraction.
Put diapers away! When Noel saw her diapers in her room, she asked to wear one instead of the panties. I said no, and had to keep them where they wouldn't be a distraction.
Put a change of clothes (panties, not a diaper) in your bag when you go places.
At night I put her to bed in panties. The puppy pad was hidden under her sheet still, and I told her to call for me anytime she felt she needed to go potty. She slept all night and woke up at 4am saying she needed to go. I brought her to the potty, she went, and then went back to bed! I couldn't believe it!
I firmly believe if you don't push it, and wait until they are wanting to go themselves, you will have a much easier time with training. We still have some improvement to make, but I can see a light at the end of this tunnel.
I know this post was really long, but I wanted to give a view of how it was a while coming for Noel.
Don't get discouraged if your child want to take his/her time.
It will happen.
It will happen.
